my brother, my brother in law and i made the trip over to eagle creek this past weekend. we launched saturday morning at fontana marina and paddled across to the trail where we hiked up to campsite 96. luckily eagle creek was nowhere as crowded as the horde of backpackers at the marina indicated it would be. we were first on the island and then shortly after we were joined by an older gentleman and his son. he had been coming there since the 60"s. it looked like he was teaching the young boy how to fly fish. after we set up camp, we strung up and hit the stream

the fishing was good for two of us. my poor brother is still struggling with fly fishing but seems optimistic about it. it has been said it is bad luck to catch on the first cast, and he had the first cast jinx. it was the only one he caught. i hooked a brown trout in the 10-12" range, and boy did he fight. when i reached out to grab the leader he gave one last flop and swam off before i could get a pic. i caught 33 the entire trip. the brother in law also did well but i did not get a count from him.

after we packed up camp, we headed down the trail to the next campsite down from us. it was a ghost town the entire weekend from what the people passing through said. we dropped our bags and fished for about an hour before heading out. as i was sitting on a log eating lunch, i heard somebody's drag start singing. a few minutes later my brother in law came walking back to the campsite with a disgusted look on his face. he (forcefully) set down his rod and started cussin! apparently he hooked and fought for a couple minutes a rainbow in the 14-16" range. i would have been disgusted too

some idiot doing donuts in a kayak

my brother working a hole. he had just released his only one right before i caught up

77punk an outstanding report and some really nice pictures. I noticed that you have the TFO 9 foot 4wt rod. How do you like it? I am thinking about getting one to use on some small local creeks and back area locations. I have a TFO 9 foot 2wt but wanted something a little heavier. My fly shop person wants me to get the BVK model instead of the Pro series. Thanks again for sharing with us all great report and pictures.

i didn't like it at first, it took me a couple of trips to get used to the length difference. my other rod is a st croix premier 8'6" 5 wt. i didn't think 6 inches would feel that different, but when your casting from under a bush... now i love it. i have used it on the clinch and i was finally able to shoot line consistently without looking like a fool(most of the time) now i'm no expert, by far, as i have only cast 4 different rods. the other two were a $25 crystal river and my brother in laws tfo lefty kreh signature.

Nice report!
I had wanted to finally make it over to the Carolina side of the park this spring and yet here we are into June already...

Quote:

Originally Posted by wmwalker

I noticed that you have the TFO 9 foot 4wt rod. How do you like it? I am thinking about getting one to use on some small local creeks and back area locations. I have a TFO 9 foot 2wt but wanted something a little heavier. My fly shop person wants me to get the BVK model instead of the Pro series.

WMW,
I have the Pro 4wt. as well and have fished it ever since it first came out years ago. It has landed hundreds of fish over the years all without issue and is one of the best in the Pro series IMHO. Having now owned and fished other rods, it doesn't get much use these days but can still get the job done. I actually fish with longer rods in the park and if I didn't also have a much lighter custom TFO Finesse 4wt. I would still probably use the Pro. I definitely notice the difference when I highstick all afternoon with the Pro vs. the Finesse.
I'm assuming you mean that you have the 8' 2wt. which I also have and is a fun rod. That rod can easily throw a 4wt. or even 5wt. line if necessary so it's actually not much of a true 2wt. If you haven't already done so, I would recommend looking at the Finesse 8'9" 3wt. 4wt. or even 5wt. All are very nice trout rods for smaller streams and rivers. However, if you still want tailwater capability as well and are on a budget, it's hard to beat the 9' 4wt. Pro. Just my .02